Our team has been working with TechAide, a technology company based in Accra, Ghana that aims to deliver affordable technology solutions to promote educational opportunities throughout Ghana, West Africa, and beyond.
Asanka is an operating system that runs on a RaspberryPi and serves as an offline content storage device for classrooms where internet access is scarce. Asanka enables teachers and students to access a range of educational content as well as store any personal files teachers want to integrate into their curriculum.
TechAide delivers three main technology services, EduLab, ProLink, and Asanka. Our team worked with the Asanka product, which is an offline content storage and management solution on a RaspberryPi device for classrooms and schools.
Current UI is difficult to navigate and unintuitive, not designed for Teachers
All content is in one location, no separation of resources or organization
User accounts and permissions are not present
Previously, the Asanka device had all the information stored in one location. The only way to find files was through three filters alphabetical, date uploaded, or file type. Finding a particular file became increasingly challenging as more content was uploaded to the device
Currently, there is no way to determine who is using which files on Asanka. Although teachers are eager to upload files they want to use to help them teach, there is no way for them to organize the personal files they upload vs all other files.
Due to limited storage, files are frequently added and removed from Asanka. This is mainly because each device copies all files from the cloud acocunt. Without the ability to manage content at the device level, each device has a direct copy of the content on the other
By creating an information architecture to categorize content based on subject, grade level, and teacher, management of content on Asanka is easier than ever before. Because storage space on Asanka is limited, administrators are often uploading new content and removing old files. Administrators will now be able to better understand what content is associated to which teacher so they can effectively distribute resources.
Giving every teacher their own folder for personal files encourages teachers to utilize Asanka more and gives them a sense of ownership over Asanka. With this design, we hope to encourage teachers to use technology more often in their classrooms.
